


Of Deceptions and Lies

by shasja_does_writing (SachaWrites)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gabriel is a dick, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Married Life, Rape Aftermath, gabriel gotta be cancelled, no beta we die like men, posting this in hope to actually finish the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:55:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SachaWrites/pseuds/shasja_does_writing
Summary: Marinette feels strange when she continiously gets called into her father-in-law's, Gabriel Agreste's, office. Over time he seems to warm up to her...... but too much for comfort.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this in the beginning of the lockdown, and actually got about 10,000 words already written,,, problem is, I still need to fill in the empty space between the arcs. So I'm posting this in hope to get some more motivation, since I'd really like to finish this up after a year.

Marinette had always felt weird when Mr. Agreste called her into his office. She had worked for his company for close to two years as a seamstress and later a designer. Every couple of weeks he’d welcome her into his office. Their talks were usually strenuous and awkward and Marinette absolutely _hated_ it.

If he hadn’t been her boss and father-in-law she would’ve never set foot anywhere close to his office, but alas. Marinette always tried to keep on his good side, Adrien always had had enough trouble with his dad and Marinette wasn’t going to make it worse by ignoring Mr. Agreste’s wish to talk to her.

“Good to see you again.” Mr. Agreste said as soon as she stepped into his office. He strode up to her, seizing her hand for a handshake and planting a kiss to her cheek.

That was new. He always gave her a hand when she came in, but never before had he given her a kiss to her cheek. Maybe he was finally starting to warm up to her as a daughter-in-law? The idea seemed foreign to Marinette. Back when they had gotten married he had barely even batted an eye at her.

To say she was surprised might’ve been an understatement, she was completely baffled by what had just happened, that she forgot to speak back to him. “How has your week been?” He asked her and went to sit back at his desk. He motioned for her to sit down on the other chair placed before his desk.

“Oh, uhm, it’s been okay.” She fumbled with her words as she sat down. “A bit busy, because of the upcoming line, but we are managing.”

He nods a little. “That was to be expected.” He agreed. “I saw the design you made, they were very impressive.”

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up almost instantly. This was quite possibly the nicest thing he’d said to her in years. “Thank you.” She said, she slightly bend forward in gratitude, a habit she picked up years ago from her Chinese mother.

There was a long silence for a while and Marinette just prayed for it to stop. She tried to think of what to say, but nothing sounded good enough in her head.

Luckily Mr. Agreste spoke up, seeing her discomfort. “And at home?”

“Everything is going good. Adrien actually picked me up when I was working late last night so we could have dinner together.” She said with a smile. Of course having dinner wasn’t the only thing they did last night, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

Mr. Agreste fell silent for a moment, his gaze shifted to look out the window to her right. She wondered what was going through his head. Was he thinking of Emilie, his deceased wife? She could see something change in his demeanor, he become a little less cold and his shoulder dropped down. She was sure she could even hear him sigh.

“I… heard the arrangements for Fashion Week are also coming along nicely.” Marinette dared to say, changing the subject back to work.

His eyes shifted over to her. “They are.” He said. “I’m glad we got a spot at Grand Palais again this year.”

Marinette couldn’t help but agree with him. “Yes, the décor is always stunning. Last years runaway might’ve been the best one I’ve seen yet.” She gushed, forgetting her earlier discomfort.

“I take it you’ve seen the main design for this show?” He asked, but it was more rhetorical than anything.

The bleunette nodded excitedly. “Yes, the design was absolutely marvelous!” she said, they had only seen drafts and prototypes for the outfit, but it already looked like some of the best designs ever. “The corduroy really made the jacket and trousers come together. And don’t even get me started on the color scheme.” She added, unable to keep it in. “Have you already decided on which models you’re going to use?”

“We’ve begun casting, but I’m not so sure just yet.” He said. He was visibly pleased by her rant about the design. He searched for something between the papers on his desk, before handing her a thick stack of papers. She quickly realized this were some of the models that had been to the casting.

She flipped through the pages, scanning the models. To her most of them looked quite boring. None of them really spoke to her.

“Taking by the look of your face you don’t like the models?” He asked.

Marinette quickly realized she was frowning and put on a more neutral expression. She opened her mouth to say the models looked good but decided against it. “They’re all so… normal.” She said honestly. “It’s boring.”

He seemed to consider her words. “What kind of model do you think would be suitable?”

“If it were my design I’d want a dark-skinned girl to wear it. Or at least have her be tan. I think that would look good with the colors in the design.” She explained. “It would look different, but not overwhelming with how minimalistic the design is.”

She laid a few of the papers in front of him on the table and he looked at them. Suddenly she could feel a bit of her anxiety returning. She hadn’t meant to insult any of the models he might’ve liked. She hoped her opinion didn’t make her seem like less in her eyes.

Mr. Agreste didn’t say anything for a couple of moments, evaluating the girls. He suddenly looked up, a slight smile edging the corners of his mouth. “I’ll show these to the board.” He said.

Marinette’s eyes widened. “You- what?” she asked, stunned.

“These are some very charismatic models, Marinette.” Mr. Agreste said. “I like how you think outside the box.”

Marinette spluttered a little, her cheeks heating up. She felt flustered. One of the best designers in Paris approved of her choices. He had been someone she used to admire so much and he was calling _her_ idea’s good.

They continued to talk after Marinette’s initial shock had sunk in. It was almost an hour later when Adrien called to let her know he was waiting outside for her.

She had quickly said her goodbye’s to her boss, she had shook his hand again before leaving, still feeling gleeful.

Marinette didn’t see the look Gabriel gave her when she was out the door, for she was still wondering if he was finally accepting her as his daughter-in-law.


	2. chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been working hard on developing this story the past week, trying to tie some of the lose ends in the story up and getting rid of some plotholes. This chapter and next chapter are mostly laying the groundwork and worldbuilding. I want to quickly say that this story is quite canon divergent, even though this is written after the release of season 2 and 3 it’ll be more accurate to some plot points of season one, so please bare that in mind.  
> I’m already working hard on chapter 2, which’ll hopefully be released on Sunday (or earlier).   
> Please let me know what you think and what I can improve on, it’s been a while since I’ve been taking fanfiction writing serious. :)

Chapter 1

Marinette had a weird, warm feeling in her chest the moment she closed the office door behind her. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about Mr. Agreste’s complete 180 today.

Before he had always been a cold man, doing the bare minimum to keep contact with his son, going as far as almost declining to come to their two years prior. He said he’d have to see if he had a free spot that day to attend.

After their marriage he only called her into his office a handful of times, even though she had been working for the company for almost 3 years. Every time he did call her into his office it had been strenuous and awkward, barely able to keep to conversation going for more than 5 minutes before Marinette excused herself and went back to her workstation.

She didn’t know how this talk had gone so well, after all their earlier meetings she’d just expected to it to be as uncomfortable as before. She had been pleasantly surprised when he started asking for her opinions and ideas, instead of him just asking about her homelife and how she was doing.

She started making her way back to her workstation to gather all her belongings and her smallest, dearest friend Tikki. Sending a glance down at Tikki through the opening of her purse, before heading for the exit where her husband was waiting with the car.

“I think your father might actually start to like me.” Marinette told her husband as she entered the car and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“My father? Actually liking someone? Impossible.” Adrien said as he starts the engine up.

Marinette let out a small laugh. The subject of his father wasn’t the touchiest thing for him anymore, and now they could usually laugh about it.

“Believe it or not, he called me into his office today and _actually_ _talked_ _to_ _me_.” She said as he started driving them back to their apartment. “Maybe he’s finally trying to make an effort?”

Adrien shook his head a little. “I think he might finally be realizing your artistic talents.” He said and turned his head a little to her, with a wink.

“Shut up.” She replied and blushed slightly.

Adrien turned his eyes back on the road, as they fell into an easy conversation.

Marinette and Adrien had started dating about 5 years prior. Marinette had been in her second year of studying fashion, while Adrien had been working for his dad’s company as model.

After high school Marinette had given up on her crush, focusing more on their friendship together. They used to always hang out with Nino and Alya, but after a while they started meeting up with the two of them. First times were just because Nino and Alya were unable to hang or they cancelled, but after a while they really started to enjoy each other company.

After getting home the two fall into a steady rhythm, Adrien starts grabbing the food for dinner Marinette walks up to their small stationary radio. “France Musique or Rire et Chansons?” She asks, turning the knob for the radio stations a little.

“I was thinking Chérie FM, actually.” Adrien replies as he gets out the cutting board and starts chopping some vegetables.

Marinette chuckled a little as she put on the station. It didn’t take long for a love song to start up and for Adrien to start swaying to the music.

When they started dating Marinette had quickly realized the blonde was the most hopeless romantic out there, even more so than her Chaton. He had gone completely out of his was to assure her to the best dates possible, stopping at nothing just to try and woo her, even though she had long been smitten.

If she didn’t know any different, her husband and her most loyal partner were cut out of the same cloth, going great lengths to assure her happiness. She could remember like yesterday, all those times Chat asked her out and she’d said no in favor of Adrien. The way both boys had been head over heel for her.

Luckily, Chat had stopped giving her that kind of attention after a while, realizing she wasn’t into him romantically and finally understanding how it wasn’t going to workout between them while they still were doing their best to protect the city.

To say Marinette had been shocked to find out her kitten had gotten married would be an understatement. He had told her about his struggle keeping his identity from his wife. How he’d wish to confide to her, but he couldn’t out of fear something would happen to her. Marinette had stared off into the distance as they sat on top of the Eiffel Tower, to the billboard that used to hold _Gabriel_ ads displaying her own husband. The heroine had agreed that it was hard, and that she had thought about it too, but she hadn’t the heart to reveal herself to her husband before sharing her identity to Chat.

As Marinette leaned against the wall, she couldn’t help herself but wondered how her husband would react if she told him she was Ladybug. Would he be surprised or concerned? Or would he be angry or disappointed that she never told him before. She had already imagined so many scenarios in her head of how he’d react, some more dramatic than others. Would he still-

Her thinking stalled as two beeps went off at the same time, both their phones vibrating in a familiar pattern. They both knew what it meant, the Akuma Alert.

Marinette took her phone from her pocket, turning off the highly annoying Akuma Alert and checking the location. For a moment she pretends to not react to the Alert and pockets her phone again, trying to think of the most convincing way to leave for a moment.

Adrien puts down the knife for a moment, turning off his own Alert before looking up at her for a moment.

It feels like he understands. The way he looks into her eyes for the shortest of seconds. But before she can comprehend the look he gives her, he’s back to cutting the tomatoes.

“I…I think I have a headache; I think I’m going to lay down for a moment. Let me know when dinners ready, okay?” She says and slightly rubs at her head for a moment, as if trying to soothe the headache.

He looked back up at her, something was in his eyes, something Marinette couldn’t place, but had seen before at times like this. He nods. “You’ve had a long day, take some rest.” He said and gave her a gentle smile.

She gave a smile in return before heading to their bedroom. Closing the door behind her before leaning against it for a moment, sighing. She stood there for a moment pushing down the familiar feeling of guilt and calling on her transformation.

After tracking down the location and waiting for Chat Noir it barely took five minutes to take down the Akuma, which was starting to become more usual. The duo saw the rest of their team barely anymore because they had all agreed that they weren’t always needed anymore. Only when the fight lasted more than half an hour or if Chat or Ladybug didn’t show they stepped in.

“This is getting way to easy.” Chat said as the Akumatized victim got helped by the local police.

She hit him against the arm. “Don’t jinx it, Alley Cat.”

They both laughed. “I’ll try not to, but it’s like he’s not even trying anymore.”

(-)

It’s like Hawkmoth had overheard their conversation, because in the middle of the night he’d sent out another Akuma, but this time one that wasn’t as easily defeated.

Coming up with an excuse to leave in the middle of the night was one of the hardest things to do, it was hard enough coming up with reasons to leave during the day, but it was nothing compared to trying to go at night.

After waiting for a few minutes for Adrien to fall back asleep she finally muttered out some terrible excuse, seeing her husband wasn’t going to drift off anytime soon.

When she had gotten home from the endless fight it was almost time to get up for work. Forgoing the last hour of sleep she begrudgingly got ready for the day, eating breakfast her equally tired looking husband, prior to going to work.

So, there she was, almost falling asleep at her desk. Her head leaning against her palm as she lazy browsed through her emails.

“Mrs. Dupain-Cheng? Mr. Agreste would like to see you in his office.” She heard a voice call from the doorway, as she turned around to face Mr. Agreste’s personal assistant, Natalie Sancoeur.

Suddenly feeling high on alert Marinette gave her a skeptical smile. “I’ll, uh, be there in a moment.”

“Good.” She starts, about to go away again, before seemingly remembering something. “He also asked if you could bring some of your designs.” She adds and continues to leave.

Marinette could tell some others from her department eyeing her as she grabs her folder with designs. Shaking away the eerie feeling of being watched she headed for his office.


End file.
